Berliner Ensemble Adaptations

by Bertolt Brecht

  Dimanche Oh, your lordship!

  Don Juan I make that clear to anyone who is willing to listen.

  Dimanche If you …

  Don Juan Oh, you’d like me to escort you?

  Dimanche Oh, your lordship. Now you’re making fun of me. Your lordship …

  Don Juan Embrace me, I beg you. And once again I ask you to believe that I am always at your disposal, and that there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you.

  (Dimanche is led away by the armed servants bearing torches)

  Dimanche Your lordship. I wished …

  Don Juan (calling after him) Send me two of the usual coats. I’m getting engaged.

  Dimanche Oh! (Goes out)

  Don Juan What is it, La Violette?

  La Violette A lady! Heavily veiled.

  Don Juan Bring her in. (To Sganarelle) Blockhead! Why are you looking at me like that? Still afraid of that chunk of stone?

  7

  Don Juan. Donna Elvira. Sganarelle. La Violette.

  Donna Elvira It may surprise you, Don Juan, to see me here at this late hour and thus attired. But what I have to say cannot be put off. I have not come in anger as I did yesterday morning. I am no longer the woman who cursed you and thirsted for vengeance. Heaven has banished all earthly passion from my heart. What I feel for you now is a devout tenderness, an affection freed from the lusts of the flesh, which knows no self-interest and whose sole concern is for your immortal soul.

  Don Juan (to Sganarelle) No, really! I believe you’re crying.

  Sganarelle For joy, your lordship.

  Donna Elvira This new love has made me the messenger of heaven, come to snatch you if I can from the brink of the abyss. Yes, Don Juan, your crimes are known to me. Heaven has sent me to say that its patience is worn thin and that its terrible wrath hangs over your head. You can avert this by repenting before it is too late. You may have only a few hours in which to escape your doom. As for me, my fate is decided. I shall withdraw into the holy seclusion of the convent of Santa Regina. It would be a source of the utmost grief to me in my retirement if heaven should be forced to make a terrible example of the man I loved so dearly. But what bliss it would be for me if I could move you to ward off the fearful blow that threatens you. Don Juan, grant me this sweet consolation; don’t refuse me the salvation of your soul; spare me the sorrow of seeing you condemned to the eternal torments of hell.

  Sganarelle (aside) Poor woman!

  Donna Elvira I loved you very dearly. Nothing in this world was so dear to me as you. For you I forgot my duty; for you I gave all I had to give. And now I ask only one thing of you: don’t let yourself be damned. Save yourself, I implore you, for your sake or for mine. I beseech you by everything that is capable of touching your heart!

  Sganarelle (aside) The heart of a tiger!

  Donna Elvira I’m going now. I have said my say.

  Don Juan It’s late, my lady. Don’t go. We shall do our best to make you comfortable here.

  Donna Elvira No, Don Juan, don’t try to detain me.

  Don Juan My lady, believe me, it would give me pleasure if you stayed.

  Donna Elvira No, there is no time to waste in needless talk. Let me go. No, don’t accompany me. And take my words to heart. (Goes out)

  8

  Don Juan. Sganarelle.

  Don Juan Sganarelle, what’s to become of our reputation? In love as in war that’s what counts the most. A fortress will surrender to the man other fortresses have surrendered to. It accepts surrender as a law of nature. Alexander’s reputation conquered more cities for him than his army. A general without a reputation has no other resort but to fight like a madman. Every defeat must be followed by a victory. Have you made the preparations for the dinner as I wished? The musicians? And Belisa, the famous singer? I want her to embellish our banquet with a serenade. And send for those fisher maidens. Have them come in at midnight with their oysters and crabs. I’ll sample the wines.

  Sganarelle Oh, your lordship. Heaven forgive you. (Strange heat lightning on the horizon. Sganarelle is terrified and Don Juan laughs)

  Don Juan Still no news of Ragotin?

  Sganarelle (trembling) No.

  (Enter La Violette)

  9

  Don Juan. Sganarelle. La Violette.

  La Violette Your lordship, your father is here. On the way he fell in with some boatmen who were turned away by the gate keeper and have been making a disturbance outside. They have been telling him all sorts of stories.

  Don Juan (to La Violette) Keep him busy for a few minutes. (To Sganarelle) Make me up. A little white.

  (Sganarelle makes him up)

  Don Juan Do you know that I felt a slight surge of feeling for Donna Elvira? That this bizarre new situation has given me a kind of pleasure, and her careless dress, the mildness of her look, and her tears have rekindled the sparks of a flame that was almost spent?

  Sganarelle In short, her words made no impression on you?

  Don Juan A touch under the eyes.

  Sganarelle As you wish.

  Don Juan Sganarelle, we ought to think of mending our ways.

  Sganarelle Oh yes.

  Don Juan Yes, it’s a fact, we’ve got to mend our ways. Another twenty or thirty years of this life and we shall start thinking of our immortal soul.

  (Heat lightning in the sky)

  Sganarelle Oh, your lordship, heaven is nodding agreement. Don’t harden your heart. There’s still time. Repent.

  Don Juan That’s just what I mean to do—in a manner of speaking. Go.

  (Sganarelle goes out)

  10

  Don Juan. Don Luis. Then Sganarelle.

  Don Luis Scoundrel! What is this new exploit I hear of? How base! How contemptible! Am I to cover such conduct with my name? I can do so no longer. By what right do you enjoy our privileges? What have you done in the world to deserve the name of nobleman? Do you suppose that your blood ennobles you when you lead the life of a villain? Have you forgotten how to blush? Shall it be said that a nobleman is a monster? Shall it be said that the sons of common laborers are more virtuous than ours?

  Don Juan Father, an inner voice must have told you how much I needed you; that must be why you leaped into your carriage. I have had an experience that I can speak of to no one but you. You are a soldier, you are a pious man, you will understand me. Father, you see me miraculously transformed. Let us not speak of the shameful lusts that made me put out to sea to ravish a woman. In the bleak dawn, as the wind howled about my craft, I heard you, my father, crying out to me in a terrible voice: “Turn back!” I fled to the shore.

  Don Luis To the shore! Oho!

  Don Juan Some pious fisher maidens took me in and vied with one another in caring for me. Their simple chatter moved me deeply. (Ragotin has entered with a letter) What is it? (Ragotin hands Don Juan the letter. Don Juan reads it with every sign of satisfaction and tosses Ragotin a purse) Excuse me, father. Heaven has sent me another sign. But let me continue. A little later, deep in the woods, I met a child of angelic beauty who seemed to know me. She took me by the hand and led me to a white mausoleum in the Roman style. We entered. I found myself standing before the stone effigy of the man whom I had robbed of everything he had in the world, his wife, his honor, and finally his life. “My father,” said the little girl. “He wishes to forgive you.”

  Don Luis Forgive you!

  Don Juan And what do you think it says in this letter? To make his forgiveness complete, that angelic child, the Commander’s daughter, announces her visit. I must show myself worthy of her.

  (Sganarelle has come back with two jugs of wine)

  Don Luis Can it be?

  Don Juan Yes, father. Everyone will see my sudden transformation. I will repair the harm done by my deeds and strive for one thing only: full forgiveness. That shall be my life from this day on, and I beg of you, my father, to help me tread the path I have chosen.

  Don Luis (embraces him) I came to speak of your latest escapade, which some crude fi
shermen have brought to my attention. But how quickly a father’s reproaches are dispelled by the least sign of repentance! I have already forgotten the cares you’ve caused me, your words have scattered them to the winds. My cheeks are stained with tears of joy. (Don Juan begins to lead him away) Persevere in this admirable attitude and you may ask anything you wish of me. But now I must rush to tell your mother; she too must share in this heavenly news. (Goes out)

  11

  Don Juan. Sganarelle.

  During this scene the servants finish setting the table. Musicians arrive with their instruments and the servants show them their places amid the foliage.

  Sganarelle Ah, your lordship, I’ve been waiting a long time to hear those words. Is it possible? You repent? The Lord be thanked, now I have nothing more to wish for.

  Don Juan (selecting wine) Idiot!—This one.

  Sganarelle Idiot?

  Don Juan Did you suppose I really meant what I said?

  Sganarelle What? It isn’t … You’re not going to … Your … Oh, what a man! What a man!

  Don Juan If I said I was going to mend my ways, it was only a stratagem, a bit of dissimulation which I must submit to in order to regain the sympathies of my father and certain others whom I need.

  Sganarelle What? You believe in nothing and you are going to play the part of virtue! What a man! What a man! What a man!

  Don Juan A wise man knows how to exploit the vices of his times. The fashionable vice today is hypocrisy, and when a vice is in fashion it always passes for a virtue. The role of the hypocrite presents marvelous advantages. A grimace or two is all it takes to join the pious club and then, behind the screen of piety, you are free to pursue your own interests. If I run into trouble, no need to stir a finger; the whole pious crew will come to my rescue and defend me against all comers. An honest man is forbidden to blow his nose, a hypocrite can make off with a whole city. Which is just what we’re going to do. Listen to me, Sganarelle. Angelica, the Commander’s daughter, has consented to come here for dinner. We shall prepare for the meeting with steadfast heart. This is going to be one of the most glorious and delightful feats of my whole career.

  Sganarelle She has consented? But your lordship, does she know who you are?

  Don Juan She will find out. From my lips.

  Sganarelle That you seduced her mother and killed her father? Your lordship, she is the only surviving avenger …

  Don Juan Of a dead but, as you suppose, highly indignant father. Ah, to overcome such almost superhuman obstacles, to subjugate a heart that has such good reasons to resist me—there’s an exploit that seems worthy of me.

  Sganarelle Your lordship, I have never given up hope that you would be saved, but this is worse than anything you’ve ever done. Heaven will never stand for such outrageous defiance.

  Don Juan Come, come. Heaven isn’t such a stickler as you think. I can see her coming in, light-footed, lovely, blushing ever so slightly. Sorrow for her dearly beloved father casts a charming shadow over her smooth brow. (To the musicians who have taken their positions among the trees) Are my little birds all ready in the branches of my trees? Gentlemen, the music! (The music sounds)

  Don Juan “My dear señorita, you do not know me. But I know you well, and furthermore I know your family to which I am bound by the closest ties of blood and love. For I am Don Juan Tenorio.”

  Sganarelle I hope she scratches his eyes out.

  Don Juan Sganarelle, I would like her to try—“Señorita, spare me nothing. Wound me however you wish, but leave me my eyes; now that I have met you, I need them.” Even the dead are moved by flattery, Sganarelle.—“Ah, God is cruel to have created beauty like yours. But He knows what He’s doing. Señorita, when I saw you, when I heard who you were, I forgave your father.”

  Sganarelle What? You? Forgiving the Commander, the man you killed?

  Don Juan Yes, forgave. Don’t interrupt me.—“Alas, señorita, alas, I killed him. There it is again, the reproach he brought upon me by dying. All he had to do to destroy me was die.” Ingenious to be sure, but confusing. “If only your father had defeated me in that duel which I did not ask for! I should no longer be alive. How much better for me than to live and be detested by you!” Now the final thrust: “Can you rebuff a desperate man who stands on the brink of nothingness? If you can, then free me at least from a life that has lost all purpose.” Something along those lines.

  Sganarelle And honesty is the worst policy, and lies have seven-league boots, and he who laughs first laughs best, and last come first served, and vice is its own reward, and forgive us our innocence, and camels pass through needles’ eyes. Ah, to think that a man of your social position can do whatever he pleases and that no power on earth can stop him! Is there indeed no one to do the will of heaven? No one?

  Don Juan Exactly: there’s no one.

  Sganarelle To think of all the people who were praying only today that heaven would crush you!

  Don Juan Yes, I could even see it in Mr. Dimanche’s eyes. As for my father, it took all my hypocrisy to disarm him. Donna Elvira’s brothers are out for my blood. And there must be others who escape my mind. But you’re quite right: what can they do?

  (Lightning on the horizon. Thunder. The light grows somber)

  Sganarelle Oh, your lordship! That’s the third time. And now I’m sure of it. Heaven is speaking to you. Heaven is giving you a sign.

  Don Juan If heaven wants to give me a sign, it should express itself a little more clearly.

  (Knocking)

  Don Juan She’s come. Go on. Open the door.

  (Sganarelle goes)

  Don Juan Bring on the dinner. (To the musicians) Twitter, my dicky birds.

  (Belisa sings a serenade. Don Juan waits in vain for Angelica to appear. Sganarelle returns, pale as death)

  12

  Don Juan. Sganarelle. The statue of the Commander.

  Don Juan What is it?

  Sganarelle (nodding like the statue) He … he’s here.

  Don Juan Oh! Not she? Well, I must say, I’m disappointed. Bring him in!

  (The statue of the Commander enters)

  Don Juan My lord Commander, I had hoped that both of you would come. But do be seated.

  (The statue of the Commander does not sit down)

  Commander Don Juan, I have come to invite you to sup with me. Have you the courage to accept?

  Don Juan Yes. Where?

  Commander Give me your hand.

  Don Juan Here it is. If somebody wants to find me, where should he go?

  Commander In the place to which I am taking you you will not be found so easily—should anyone wish to meet you.

  Don Juan (to Sganarelle) Bring a lamp.

  Commander No light is needed when heaven leads the way. (Sganarelle faints)

  Commander Don Juan, a terrible end awaits those who harden their hearts in sin. To exhaust the mercy of heaven is to invite its lightnings.

  (The statue of the Commander leads Don Juan downstage)

  Don Juan O heaven! The pain! I am scorched by fire! Stop! Oh! (Amid loud thunder the earth opens. One hand in the Commander’s clasp, vainly trying to hold his hat with the other, Don Juan sinks into the depths. Tall flames flare from the hole into which they vanish. The music has stopped. Various persons rush out on the stage, one after another)

  13

  Sganarelle. La Violette. Seraphine. Angelica. Dimanche. Elvira’s brothers, Don Alonso and Don Carlos, followed by Dr. Marphurius, Don Luis, the boatmen, the fisher maidens accompanied by their fiancés.

  La Violette What a disaster! He’s gone!

  Angelica I’m a little late. (Sees the hole) Oh! How awful!

  Dimanche (bringing in two coats) It’s blackmail! Your two coats, your … Oh! My best customer!

  Elvira’s Brothers The scoundrel! Where is he?—Oh! The honor of our family stained forever!

  Seraphine Oh! Now who’s going to eat my ducks in orange sauce?

  Marphurius Oh! The duel!

&nb
sp; Don Luis Oh! My son! My heir!

  The Boatmen Oh! Where is he?—Fifty-four ducats down the drain!